On December 5, the Scribes Board adopted a new mission statement and installed its new President and Vice President.
Although Scribes has long had organizational goals, the Board adopted a new mission statement to affirm its longstanding commitment to fostering clarity and professionalism in legal writing while embracing evolving tools and expectations:
Scribes champions excellence in legal writing. Since 1951, we have promoted clear, succinct, and persuasive legal style and argument. We advance these goals through our publications, awards, outreach, and educational programs. As legal writing continues to evolve, we embrace innovation guided by human judgment and accountability.
The organization also installed its 2026 officers:
- President: Michele M. Jochner, Partner, Schiller, DuCanto & Fleck LLP (Chicago, Illinois)
- Vice President: Mark Cooney, Professor of Law, Cooley Law School (East Lansing, Michigan)
- Secretary: Emily Janoski-Haehlen, Dean and Professor of Law, University of Akron School of Law (Akron, Ohio)
- Treasurer: Brooke J. Bowman, Professor of Law, Stetson University College of Law (Gulfport, Florida)
- Immediate Past President: Darby Dickerson, President, Dean, and Professor of Law, Southwestern Law School (Los Angeles, California)
About the New President and Vice President
President Michele M. Jochner, a nationally recognized authority on appellate advocacy and legal writing,
brings decades of judicial, scholarly, and professional experience to the role. She will serve through
the December 2027 Board meeting. Before entering private practice, Jochner served for 15 years as a
judicial law clerk to two Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court, working on complex and high-profile
matters of first impression. She has authored more than 200 articles on legal writing and substantive
law; her columns “Law From a Different Perspective” and “On Appeal” are widely read. Jochner has been
repeatedly recognized among the “Best Lawyers in America,” as a Super Lawyer, and as a “Leading Lawyer.”
Vice President Mark Cooney has long been a cornerstone of Scribes’ publications and writing initiatives.
He served as Editor in Chief of The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing for six volumes, shaping
the Journal‘s scholarly direction and strengthening its national influence. He continues to
serve as a Senior Editor, mentoring authors and promoting the highest standards of clarity and
craftsmanship. Professor Cooney’s commitment to advancing legal writing also reaches thousands of
practitioners and students each year through his widely circulated writing guidance, including his
contributions to the Scribes’ Tuesday Tip series. In addition to his Scribes service, Cooney chaired
Cooley’s Research & Writing Department from 2011 to 2025 and has published extensively on legal
writing, appellate practice, and tort law.
